Embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are generally directed to head-tracking systems and methods for providing head position and/or orientation data for dismounted users.
Head-worn displays (HWDs) with head-tracking systems may be used in a variety of applications to provide situational awareness information to users. One type of situation awareness application is known as augmented reality, where a head-worn display system may enable a user to see computer generated information superimposed over a real world view. Timely and accurate alignment of the computer generated information with the real world view is required for augmented reality to be effective. Georeferenced head-tracking determines the position and orientation of the head relative to the Earth, which may enable display of symbology and imagery superimposed over the view of the scene. The potential improvement in situation awareness that may be provided by an augmented reality system is dependent on the accuracy and responsiveness of the head-tracking subsystem.
The accuracy, update rate, latency and jitter requirements for head-tracking systems are challenging. Some existing solutions rely on various combinations of magnetic, optical and inertial tracker subsystems to attempt to meet these requirements. Many of these solutions are only usable in vehicle environments such as the flight deck of an aircraft, and have been large and costly. Applications of augmented reality for dismounted users have been limited by the lack of availability of a sufficiently accurate, fast, jitter-free head tracker. In spite of years of investment and effort, the performance of existing head-tracking systems is still in need of improvement.